A few short days after Tina landed the audition, Stanley left Edge City on a business trip. On her first morning left alone to her own devices, Tina awoke to a handwritten note on her bedside table. "Saw your show the other night at the club. Best thing I've seen in a while. Can't wait to take you out on a date when I get back. Your biggest fan, Stanley."

Stanley had gone to see her show without telling her? Tina's heart swelled - Stanley hadn't gone to one of her shows in months, and even though she never expected to see him there, she was touched.

With the day off, Tina spent the afternoon shopping, leaving the apartment descending into a mess, eventually arriving back at dinnertime, takeout in one hand, an armful of shopping bags in the other. The vivid colours of the sunset splashed across the apartment's windows as Tina devoured chinese food, when suddenly the phone rang. Her mouth half full of food, Tina answered the phone - "…hello?"

"Yeah hey: Tommy here, the producer. I'm lookin' for someone with the stage name….'Mask'. She around? It's urgent." Immediately panicking, Tina cleared her throat, covering the receiver with her extra large gym t-shirt. "May I ask what this is regarding?" Tina asked in a faux secretary voice. "Yeah, it's about her wardrobe fitting and the music for the act. Can I talk to her or what?" he said, impatiently. "Just a moment." Tina said sweetly, immediately racing off to the bedroom, rummaging through Stanley's drawers to find the Mask. She had promised herself she would only wear it for the new job, and even though she was only at home, this waswork related…she had to wear it! Wasting no more time, standing in the middle of the living room now, Tina slammed the mask into her face…and nothing happened. Opening her scrunched-closed eyes, she could see through the holes that it was still just barely daylight outside, the sunset disappearing…but it wasn't night just yet. Frantic, she shut the curtains, racing back to the phone, desperately massaging the mask onto her skin, which was slowly beginning to melt just enough to stay attached on its own. She forced the rigid wooden jaw open and began to speak, her voice now the smoky, distinctive personality of the Mask.

"Oh - hhhhello?" she said somewhat stiltedly, her eyes beginning to pop out of the sockets slightly as the mask tightened its seal in super slow motion. "Yeah! Is this the Mask, or what? I'm sick of waiting!" Tommy said, starting to lose it. Tina massaged the wooden edges of the mask with her other hand, her body still untransformed. Suddenly, Tina got mobility in her jaw… "Oh, Tommy, darling, what's got you so worked up? I oughta help you relax the next time I see you." Tina said hyper-suggestively, her personality now completely the Mask. Still in her baggy clothes, she could feel the dormant-looking mask fully attached to her face. Tommy immediately softened up. "Oh, that sounds great, actually. Listen, why don't you come by tomorrow night for a fitting, and we can go over your music, how does that sound?"

"A fitting, sounds like fun. Can't wait to try a new look out for you, Tommy. I'll see you then." Tina said, her voice oozing sexuality. Sticking out her tongue into (and through) the receiver to the other end of the call, she licked his ear playfully, and immediately hung up.

Immediately, Tina felt the mask starting to smother her, and went to peel it away just as the sunset finally dipped under the horizon. Just as her fingers managed to grasp the mask's upper rim, the wood wildly sprang to life to complete the transformation, and Tina was helpless to stop it. Whipping around the room, completely out of control, Tina felt the wood of the mask turn to rubber, wrapping around her head with the tightness of a vice before she stopped cold in front of her full length mirror in her bedroom, wearing her signature yellow dress.

"Oooooh, feels good to be back!" Tina said, admiring her hourglass curves and striking green features. "I think I need a bit of a makeover, though. This gal's looking a little tired." she said, winking to her reflection as she shook her face wildly, the green rubber jiggling around until it reformed unmistakably into the features of Scarlett Johansson, her long blonde hair tumbling out of the mask. Tina as Scarlett, looking back at herself, gasped uncontrollably, her jaw dropping several inches at her movie star looks. Gripping the edges of the mask, she pulled the mask even tighter across her face, Scarlett's features getting a miniature facelift as the rubber sealed itself even tighter with a few loud squeaks and a snap. "There, that looks about right!" she said in Scarlett's voice, her bust bulging out a few sizes. Whipping out her hot pink purse, she began rummaging through it. "Ugh, I have got to reorganize this. There's no way a girl needs all this for a night on the town." she complained, pulling out a giant wooden hammer and tossing it onto her bed. Digging further, she found a hunting knife, jokingly picking out something in her enormous teeth before hucking it into the wall. Now, sticking her arm impossibly deep into the purse, she pulled out a crowbar, tossing it in her hands playfully. "Hmm, might actually need this." Dropping it back into her purse, the only other thing she found was a green makeup kit and lipstick, which she scoffed at, perfectly happy with her supermodel look.

To Tina's surprise, she heard a rap at the door. "Just a seconnnnd!" she shouted. Gritting her massive teeth, she zoomed to the door in what looked like a single step, peering sensually into the peephole to see a young, good looking tenant who lived down the hall: Harvey. "Hell-o, beautiful." Tina said to herself as Scarlett, looking down at her yellow dress and pleased to see it amply filled out in just the ways she wanted - she had never looked so good, even during her two times so far wearing the mask…she was completely irresistible. She was really starting to get the hang of its power. But if she answered the door, she would certainly be able to do anything she desired to this young man - was she willing to do that to Stanley? She had toyed with the idea before, but never seriously gone through with it…this was the closest she had ever gotten. "Oh, Stanley…" she said to herself quietly, bringing her hands up to the mask, tugging and wrenching at the back of the mask, Scarlett's face twisting into a wrinkled, grotesque form as she moaned in pain, the curvy yellow dress disappearing in a fine green mist, the last of Scarlett's features melting into the wood of the mask. Tossing the inert wood onto the sidetable, she threw open the lock, answering the door in her pajamas.

"Oh - hey Tina." Harvey said, surprised to see her, shuffling in his white t-shirt and jeans. Tina looked like a mess, bags under her eyes, her hair twisted and half covering her eyes, her ruffled pajamas newly free from the mask's transformative grip.

"Sorry that took so long…" Tina said, her voice scratchy and hoarse from the strain of wearing the mask. "What do you need?" she asked.

"Oh, I was just looking for Stanley. I guess he's out?" "Away on business, actually. Yeah." They both stood in an awkward silence, Tina dying to get away, embarrassed by her attraction to Harvey and her completely dishevelled state.

"Well…nice to see you around, Teen…" Harvey said, flashing her a quick wave and walking back down the hallway to his apartment before she could say another thing. Closing the door, Tina slid down the back of it, sinking her hands into her hair, holding back tears…why had she been so overcome to cheat on Stanley with the mask on? She had enough sense to take it in that moment, but she was well aware of long stretches of time where the incredible power of the green rubber didn't even have her think twice about doing anything. She had felt so compelled to head out into the city, to get some excitement back into her life, to stir up some mischief. Now, more than ever, she felt like her rule of only wearing it for purposes of the show was well founded - with a goal in mind, she wouldn't stray too far when wearing it. And really, she hadn't decided to keep wearing it that evening - it simply slipped out of her control briefly after the phone call, and took her a couple minutes to get off after a quick distraction, the thrill of being Scarlett, of having that body, that power. She hadn't even done anything, and certainly not anything wrong.

Exhausted from the whole ordeal, she flicked off all the lights, half-tossing the mask into its drawer, and flopping onto her bed. Still wearing all her clothes, not even bothering to get into the sheets, instantly, she was asleep.

Images of the Coco Bongo flooded her dream…fake palm trees, that terrible cheap perfume that filled the joint every night. In the distance, The Mask, the first time she ever saw him, sitting in the crowd. The audience, caught in the perpetual din of slow motion applause, faded into the distance as he approached her, and she could see herself in her street clothes, standing on the lit-up steps of the stage, men with guns flanking the exits of the club. Embracing her briefly, he dipped her, and she could see the incredible crevices of his mask, the pores in the green rubber, his incredible teeth, his eyes, and the spark behind them, seconds before her memory of their kiss. She aged, growing older before his eyes, and the heart beating out of his chest began to recede as he faded onwards to another woman further up the stage, and still floating from his dip, she fell slowly to the stage floor, and upon impact, her eyes shot open, hours later.

Awake, alone, sweating, Tina felt desperately afraid, and took no hesitation into diving for the mask in Stanley's drawer, kicking up a huge tornado in the bedroom, taking an exceptionally long time to emerge from it as the Mask. She screeched to a stop in the living room dressed in a deep red coloured latex dress, along with thick, wavy, fiery red hair. Tossing it back, not a strand of hair out of place, she squeezed into a pair of long red opera gloves as she confidently thrusted her leg forward into a power stance, a long slit up the side of her dress showing her incredibly long thighs. Shaking her face until the rubber of the mask loosened, her lips began to make flapping sounds until she stopped all at once, her face now none other than that of Christina Hendricks. "I'm ready," she announced with a smirk in a husky, distinctly womanly voice. Taking long, no-nonsense strides towards the kitchen, her heels clacked on the floor thunderously. Throwing open the fridge, its light casting dramatically along her profile, she could see herself in the reflection of a cabinet window, her figure unbelievably voluptuous. She bent all the way down, retrieving an ice cold bottle of champagne from the back of the the fridge. Spinning around on her foot, she closed the fridge door with her other heel and headed for the apartment door, finally ready to embrace the night, the city, and the power of the mask. First thing was first - she was going to have the treat down the hall she had denied herself before.

Walking down the hallway with a bottle of champagne, strutting determinedly, her hips swaying wildly, rhythmically, Tina gave the bottle a good shake and sent the cork popping off, shooting a hole in the drywall, embedding itself in the building somewhere. Bubbling white foam frothed over the lip of the bottle as Tina took a sip right from the bottle, droplets of champagne dripping down the chin of her rubber mask, her body jiggling as she walked. That was his door at the end at the right, 406. Three doors away, through the window at the end of the hallway, cruelly, the sun peeked up from behind a building, searing into Tina's eyes. Gasping, she continued, and her steps began to shake as she stumbled to his door, dropping the champagne onto the maroon carpet, spraying up and around before its liquid spread in a pool beneath her as her breathing grew laboured, the beautiful mask stiffening up on her face. She was still intact, she realized - all she had to do was get inside, and she could have her way, maybe…

She lost balance, and fell onto the door, leaning completely on her bust as she slid down, the mask beginning to wrinkle and droop, her chest distorting as she fell down further, landing on her knees. The red latex dress rippling, she reached for the door, her hand slipping on the champagne covered knob, and now she could see the wooden eye holes beginning to encroach on her vision, the mask's hips receding into her own. The skintight green rubber drying up into wood, the seal at the back of her head receded, the mask clattering to the carpet as Tina shook from being violently robbed of her power. That was her last chance while Stanley was still out of town...

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